[Manko10]

I would still avoid using gray as the background color here. I like the contrast and using gray in gray is a pitfall man have stepped into. White is totally fine to my taste. There are also great design out there which use 100% black and 100% white, which is even more contrast. Here we have 100% black only for the text color and therefore I would suggest not to use gray for the background. I know, I sound a bit dogmatic, but that's my opinion. A few years ago, when I started with web design I also used light-gray backgrounds every time, but sometime I realized that it looks just nasty if not used purposely and for a reason.
Concerning the shadow: as I said: subtly used in some places they may be great, but don't overuse them.

@freaktechnik Your draft conveys to little information. Users coming to the site don't know what the site is about.
Another issue are the rounded corners, which are too much in-your-face. Also the contrast between the brownish coppery color and the gray looks awkward.
I think also the proportions are a little odd. You have very huge components on the page but very narrow white-space in between. The only white-space you have is that in the bottom right corner and it looks more like a hole. Nothing is going on there. You haven't filled that part of the page, neither directly nor indirectly.
That just as a constructive critique.

[freaktechnik]

@Manko10 thanks for your detailed critics.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: I would still avoid using gray as the background color here ... A few years ago, when I started with web design I also used light-gray backgrounds every time, but sometime I realized that it looks just nasty if not used purposely and for a reason.

I hate gray, but I actually don't find better color. Generaly, it's hard for me to do a webdesign not too b/w.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: Concerning the shadow: as I said: subtly used in some places they may be great, but don't overuse them.

In my eyes the shadows in the head are good. I'm not sure if the bottom one is needed.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: @freaktechnik Your draft conveys to little information. Users coming to the site don't know what the site is about.

Oh, I didn't fill in any content yet. It also still say lorem ipsum. And there are many more blocks I am thinking about.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: Another issue are the rounded corners, which are too much in-your-face.

I hate (not rounded) corners. I can't deal with them.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: Also the contrast between the brownish coppery color and the gray looks awkward.

I know.

(05-26-2011, 01:26 AM)Manko10 Wrote: That just as a constructive critique.

Yep. Thank you!

[Manko10]

Quote:I hate gray, but I actually don't find better color. Generaly, it's hard for me to do a webdesign not too b/w.

That was more to Matt-SD, but it also applies to your design, yes.

Quote:Oh, I didn't fill in any content yet. It also still say lorem ipsum. And there are many more blocks I am thinking about.

But even if there were content, no one would read it because the user only sees the big image above. It took me some time to notice that there is a "Lorem ipsum" below, but even a longer text wouldn't be much more noticeable.

Quote:I hate (not rounded) corners. I can't deal with them.

Try it. Rounded corners are not bad per se, but here they are too much and don't play well with the sharp corners of the browser viewport.

[Matt-SD]

(05-26-2011, 02:38 AM)Manko10 Wrote:

Quote:I hate gray, but I actually don't find better color. Generaly, it's hard for me to do a webdesign not too b/w.

That was more to Matt-SD, but it also applies to your design, yes.

#F8F8F8 as a bg color & #444 or #222 as text color is what I generally use when I need to do a light design. To me the contrast is too harsh when using black on white.

In some cases when reading a long post/article with that color scheme, I've used Firebug to change it. It's too harsh for my eyes.

(05-26-2011, 02:38 AM)Manko10 Wrote:

Quote:I hate (not rounded) corners. I can't deal with them.

Try it. Rounded corners are not bad per se, but here they are too much and don't play well with the sharp corners of the browser viewport.

Try putting the corners at 3px or 4px. It looks better. Overly rounded corners (anything 7px plus) looks too cartoon-y IMO.

[Manko10]

Quote:#F8F8F8 as a bg color & #444 or #222 as text color is what I generally use when I need to do a light design.

Noo, to little contrast here. The second reason why we can't use light gray here is the link and logo font color. This tone needs a clear background. On light or medium gray, however, it looks dull and hurts the eyes.